From the Abyss of the Heart
by The Eternal Lord Draconious
Summary: In a desperate attempt to avoid oblivion, Lila Barton makes a deal with the Abyss. In exchange she is reshaped and remolded into a vessel of war. There are things in the deep which should never be bargained with, and as the Endgame draws near, Lila finds it harder to control herself. Can she keep her other half under control or will the world burn under a rain of battleship fire?
1. Chapter 1

**From the Abyss of the Heart**

**Okay here's another Lila-in-name-only centric story. I'll try to work on Hollowed be Thy Name as well. But since seeing Endgame my muse has been on overdrive. Just heads up she isn't a pure abyssal. She's an abyssal with a heart. So Abyssal Lila Rise!**

**A/N: Listening to the Kancolle Album Somnium along with the other abyssal songs made writing the darker parts a bit easier.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the MCU or Kancolle do you honestly think I'd be here?**

**Chapter 1: Eldritch Resurrection**

PAIN! Her world was unending, unceasing pain. She could remember a farm. A man with kind eyes and a kind smile. A woman laughing, and two boys playing. She remembered her name, Lila, Lila Barton. She remembered dying, her body falling apart, turning to dust and ash. It had happened so quickly that she hadn't had a chance to scream. Then an orange glow and pain became her world.

She couldn't move, hell she could barely think, the pain was so bad. Then there were the moments where she had the awful feeling that she was fading away only to snap back into existence. Despite all of that, Lila was occasionally able to focus long enough to get some details on her surroundings. She was suspended in a void of some kind, with the orange glow coming from everywhere. She noticed that there were others here as well, who were also suffering and occasionally some of them would simply fade out of existence. Lila steeled her resolve with each one that disappeared, she refused to simply fade away. Unfortunately, she also noticed that there was some sort of black cloud moving from person to person almost all of whom had started to fade. It didn't pause for more than a few seconds at each person, before moving on to the next. It repeated this over and over, until it got to her, and stopped. She felt and inhuman gaze pass over her prone form and for the first time in ages she slowly moved her arm trying to touch it.

There was a dark chuckle that came from the cloud and she quickly retracted her arm._**"My, my, aren't you a strong one. Tell me child, do you wish to live?"**_ A voice asked from the dark mass.

"Yes" she said in a pained voice.

_**"At any cost? At any price?**_"

"Yes" She said practically screaming.

_**"Even at the cost of being human ever again? Even if it means becoming one with a spirit who was strangled in the womb. A spirit of war, of might, and pride. A spirit of a warship with an insatiable lust for revenge? The price for this would normally be your soul. But seeing how that is all that is left of you, I will ask for something else."**_

Gritting her teeth she asked it. "What is it that you want?"

_**"My price is simple. Accept the Abyss into you! Become one with bottomless deep! And show the world what truly lies within you! Be it for good or evil!**_

"And If I don't?" She asked curious as to what this being would say.

_**"Then you will fade into nothingness, reduced to just a memory. I doubt anyone in this place will last one more of your earth years. Yourself included. So will you accept my offer?"**_

That clinched it for her. "Then yes! If it means escaping from this hell then I'll accept anything. Just make the pain stop! I don't want to fade! I want to live! I ACCEPT THE DEEP! I ACCEPT THE ABYSS!"

The voice boomed in laughter. "_**Then so be it."**_ The voice said in way that if she still had a heart, it would be racing by now. The voice continued on "_**Lila Barton, Daughter of Clint and Laura Barton, welcome to the Abyss. May Davy Jones have mercy on your soul."**_

Suddenly the dark mass became less like a cloud and more like a wave before washing over her. She screamed as the watery mass dragged her down into it's depths and drowned her.

* * *

**Location unknown 2023**

She awoke with a gasp, and to her surprise she sucked in salt water, but she wasn't drowning. All around her was darkness so it was either night where she was or she was very deep. But for the first time in a long time, she could feel something solid under her. It was a metal object of some sort but without any light she couldn't tell what. As if to answer her thoughts two small lights came from her shoulders and illuminated the darkness, revealing two massive gun barrels above her head. Her jaw dropped. 'Whaa? A battleship?!'

Now granted she wasn't gifted with advanced knowledge of warships but she had two brothers who naturally like all boys liked things that had a lot of guns. So she at least wasn't totally confused by what the sight in front of her was. No, what really had her confused was why she was standing on one at the bottom of the ocean.

_**Family**_

A very different pain from the one she escaped gripped her heart, causing her to collapse to her knees. 'Mom, Cooper, Peitro. I'll kill whoever did this to us.'

_**Rage**_

Lila's eyes began to glow an unearthly blue as two great shields formed around her hands. Each shield had two duel 16" turrets, one on the top and the other at the bottom, with a single 16" gun mounted in between them. The feeling her 16" guns being loaded and her armor under her skin made her feel complete. Training her guns for the first time, her heart filled with determination, she vowed. 'I swear, I'll kill them all!'

_**Surface.**_

She blinked. There was that voice again, but so far so good right? A strange sensation filled her body as a heat built up inside her. Her boilers had begun to build up steam, as great turbines began to move.

_**Surface now!**_

_"Yesss.' Lettss surface."_ She said with in a distorted voice. Her screws bit into the cold sea water and began her ascent. The Abyssal shot from the depths a cold glow in her eyes. Oh, there would be hell to pay. Thunder and fire would sound out from her guns, and nothing aside from Davy Jones or her father would stop her.

Wait. Father. She closed her eyes for a moment and then changed course, her heart guiding her to the only one she had left. Where ever he was that was where she needed to be. Home. With that she was gone and once again Kongo found herself alone on the ocean floor.

* * *

**Tokyo Bay, Japan 2023**

Captain Akira Nagisei of the JS Maya sat on the bridge of her ship. Her ship along with the Destroyers Kongo and Krishimia, had spent the last two months doing patrols in the South China Sea, and she was glad to finally see port. Even if some didn't have anyone left to welcome them home anymore.

Akira was like many sailors these days, a devastated shell of the person she once was. After the loss of her entire family and most of her friends and neighbors during the Decimation and it's aftermath, she had become a hard and cold person. The last five years had aged her twenty, as she was going gray and wrinkled at twenty five. Perhaps that was why when the radar officer reported an unidentified contact entering the harbor she had remained un-phased.

"Captain an unidentified contact is approaching the harbor entrance. They haven't answered our hails." The man said slightly concerned.

She raised her eyebrow, "Another ghost ship perhaps?"

Another thing they had to thank Thanos for. Hundreds of small ships and even some larger ships lost their entire crews. Without anyone at the helm many of these vessels drifted aimlessly across the worlds oceans. Occasionally one of these vessels would find their way to shore.

Though judging by the shaking of the man's head this wasn't the case. "No Ma'am. She is definitely underway. She has actually increased speed since we detected her."

"Hail her again." She ordered.

"Unidentified Vessel, you are entering a restricted zone. Identify yourself and your intentions immediately or we will open fire." The communications officer ordered over the radio before looking at his captain and shaking his head. "No response Captain."

The Radar office's eyes bulged out and he looked at Akira with a pale face. "They responded all right. They've changed their heading and are on an intercept course, and ma'am it's radar signature puts it over 45,000 tons. I think. I think it's a warship."

Akira felt a tremor go through her. Who would attack here, with the American navy in Yokosuka so close by?. She grabbed the bridge phone before sending out a ship wide broadcast. "This is the Captain General Quarters this is not a drill." Turning to her XO she said to him. "Get on the horn, inform the Americans that we have a unknown and potentially hostile vessel approaching us." The man nodded and proceeded to relay the information to the Fifth Fleet.

The evening just got very interesting indeed.

**Lila POV.**

For the first time in years, I could see the sights of civilization in front of me. But I was a little annoyed, there was this static sound blaring from my telegraph system and every time I tried to reply I got ignored. Of course I didn't have a semi modern radio system installed! Just a stupid telegraph!

I had finally located the source of my headache as well. Three warships that were entering a harbor off my bow. All of them flying the flag of the Rising Sun. That must mean that shoreline is Japan! A part of me started freaking out. _**Shit not good!**_ A girl's voice came from the back of my mind.

'Uh, who are you and why are you in my head?' I asked the voice politely, with a sudden urge to slap myself in the forehead. Your not crazy until you start getting responses from the voices in your head.

_**'USS Montana BB-51 at your service! But you can just call me Mona! But not Monty, that guy was an Ass.'**_ The voice, no, Mona replied. Shit I really am insane!

_**'No your not! I'm as real as that rocket that ship just launched at us.'**_

Rocket? Oh! She must be talking about the...Did they seriously launch a missile at me. "WHOOSH! BOOM!" 'HOLY FRAK! THEY'RE SHOOTING AT ME!'

_**'They're Japs what you expect? Tea and Crumpets? Your a battleship shoot back!'**_ Mona yelled at me.

'But...' My argument died in my throat as a five inch round bounced off my boobs. "PING! SPLOOSH!" 'Okay, fine have it your way!'

Training my barrels so all three ships were targeted simultaneously, I fired my sixteen inch rifles at once. The shock wave they made was incredible, and the impact on the three warships even more so. Out of my eight shells I had four hits. Two of the ships were severely crippled and sinking. While the lead ship simply ceased to exist altogether. I reloaded before steaming past the burning wrecks.

A large white aircraft approached me, and strafed me with machine gun fire. Despite my poor Anti-Air equipment I still managed to score a hit with my flak battery damaging the aircraft and forcing it to retreat. _**'You do realize that what you just did should have been impossible. Right? That kind of accuracy isn't possible.'**_ Mona sounded stunned that my aim was that good.

I smirked. 'Like father, like daughter.' Following the feeling in my heart, I entered the harbor. As I did so, I spotted several large ships including an Aircraft Carrier trying to intercept me. Yeah battleship or not, sinking a Nuclear Carrier was not on my agenda. So I raced past them at full speed literally running across the harbor. Yeah going ashore was going to get interesting in a hurry.

_**'You know you could always just burn the place right? Level it to the ground and leave nothing behind."**_ Mona said sadistically.

I recoiled in horror. 'No! I refuse to do anything of the sort. Especially since dad is somewhere in there and there is nothing you can do to make me!'

_**'Aside from being your sperm donor, just what has he ever done for you? Hmmm? Not enough apparently or you wouldn't be dead! Face it your a part of the Abyss now. Wholesale destruction is in you nature.'**_

Tears fell from my eyes as I moved on auto pilot and stepped onto dry land for the first time since I was resurrected, 'Your wrong about him. Wrong about me as well.'

_**'So you think. You can try to hold on to your humanity, but YOU ARE NO LONGER HUMAN!' **_Mona declared loudly.

I sobbed, because deep down I knew she was right. The desire to turn the city and the communities around it into a series of smoking craters was there. But I suppressed it. I would not be like Loki, Ultron, any of the other Villains that my dad had fought over the years. Who if my heart was right, I had almost reached. 'I refuse to become that monster! I won't give in to that desire! I may have chosen to become an Abyssal but I will never turn my guns on the innocent or my family.' I declared

_**'Even if they turn their weapons on you? Because I hear weapons being drawn.'**_ She said in a matter of fact tone.

I heard the sounds as well. The sound of a pair of pistols being drawn, along with the sound of a sword being drawn. I turned towards the sound and my boilers went cold. 'What?'

Mona laughed with a snort, _**'I told you so. What will you do now, now that HE is threatening you?'**_

There standing in an alleyway, was Aunt Nat with two pistols aimed at me and beside her stood my dad with a sword in hand. I was horrified. _"Dad? Auntie Nat?"_

* * *

**Tokyo Alleyway, Natasha Rominoff**

Natasha Rominoff was a busy woman these days. Granted that tends to happen when your bosses are wiped out along with half of all life in the universe. But for the first time in five years there was finally a chance to fix things, and bring back those they lost. Unfortunately, an old colleague of hers was leaving a trail of dead bodies across the globe, which brought her to a run down alleyway in Tokyo.

The sounds of screams, breaking glass and gunfire, followed by a man being thrown out a window told her that she was in the right place. The sight of her quarry dropping down in front of the first man confirmed it. The two men fought briefly and it ended with Man One having his throat slit by Man Two. As she approached her old friend he suddenly pointed his sword at her throat. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"Clint, there's been a development. We finally found a way to get them back." she said. The sword vanished and she was suddenly forced against the building behind her.

"Don't, Nat." He said pointing at her. "Don't try and give me hope." He continued, anguish marring his face.

The former spy was surprised and heart broken at the sight. The man before her was vastly different from the one she knew before Thanos showed up. The Clint Barton that was before the Snap, wielded a bow an arrow and always seemed to smile around her. This Clint hadn't touched a bow since that day, after losing his entire family in an instant. His eyes were cold and hard, and his face a perpetual grimace. He was a shell of his former self. But then so was everyone else**.**

She sighed, "I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner."

Before she could say anything more there was a loud boom followed by an explosion. It was quickly followed by another boom and another explosion. "That sounds like artillery fire." Clint said calmly as he released the woman from his grasp.

Listening to the pattern of boom, explosion, boom, explosion, Natasha realized he was right. The only thing odd about it though was that it was coming from the bay. Air raid sirens began to blare and the night suddenly filled with chaos.

She clicked on her radio "All teams, this is Romanoff, I need a sit-rep. Who's shooting?"

The answer she got was not what either of them expected. "This is Squad two, multiple JMDSF vessels have been sunk in the harbor, and the quinjet has taken minor damaged, but is still airworthy. We have visual on the attacker. But it doesn't make any sense."

Natasha frowned, "What is it? What doesn't make any sense?" she asked

"It's a teenage girl with two giant shields with cannons on them and she is literally walking on water!" The officer replied.

A gleam of curiousity entered Clint's eyes and Natasha saw a little bit of the old Clint emerge. "Walking on water huh? I'm kind of curious now."

He started walking back towards the exit to the alleyway. Not wanting to waste a chance to possibly pull him out of his five years of mourning, Natasha followed, pressing the button on her mic as she caught up to him. "Which way is she going?"

The answer couldn't come fast enough. "She's on land now and headed your way, Director! I repeat! The hostile is headed in a direct path towards your location."

As they approached the alleyway entrance, Clint suddenly stopped and held Natasha back with his arm. "She's already here." He said, looking at the dark haired teenage girl with two giant shields with cannons in them, who was walking down the middle of the street in front of them.

The former spy studied the girl for a moment, taking in the girl's appearance, and a chill went down her spine. The girl looked a lot like her late niece, same height and build, but due to the girl looking down Natasha couldn't make out the girl's face. She wore dark colored clothes. A dark grey shirt was visible under the opening in the girl's jumpsuit, and on her shoulders two small pauldrons with cannons on them were visible. And then there were the two massive shields the girl was holding. As the girl drew near, Clint drew his Katana, while Nat pulled out her pistols.

Hearing the sound that their weapons being drawn, the girl turned to face the pair. Natasha couldn't help but notice the blue flames that seemed to come from the girl's eyes. As Natasha took in the girl's features, she felt her heart sink. She knew that face, and so did Clint. Her pistols fell to her side and the sound of metal hitting asphalt rang out as Clint's Katana hit the ground. "Lila?"

The girl looked equally surprised to see them as well if that stunned look on her face was anything to go by. _"Dad? Auntie Nat?"_ An unearthly voice asked. It was Lila's voice, but it sounded as though the girl was underwater.

With tears in his eyes Clint dropped to his knees in shock. "My little Hawkeye? Is that really you?"

The two massive shields vanished along with the girl's armor, as Lila's glowing blue eyes widened at the sight of the man collapsing. With a cry of _"DAD!"_ The girl covered the distance in an instant, tackling the man in a hug, and Clint returned it.

Having finally recovered from her initial shock, Nat pointed her guns at the back of the girl's head. This could not possibly be Lila, as the girl had been confirmed as one of Thanos's victims. "Get up with your hands where I can see them." Nat ordered the girl.

The girl squeaked in shock at the older woman's actions. _"Auntie Nat?"_ The teen asked in a confused voice.

"You heard me. On your feet with your hands up! I won't repeat myself again."Natasha demanded as she released the safeties on her pistols.

The girl began to tremble slightly and tried to stand up, only to be stopped by Clint increasing his grip on the girl. He shot Natasha a glare and without releasing his hug on the 'false' Lila, grabbed his Katana and pointed it at Natasha. "What the hell Natasha?" He asked in an angry tone.

Natasha's eyes softened and the woman steeled herself for what she had to say next. "Clint. You and I both know there's no way that can be Lila. She turned to dust and ash along with everyone else that died that day."

The small ray of hope that had reappeared in the man's eyes died, as his heart shattered. He lowered his blade, knowing that Natasha was right. His now frozen gaze fell upon the girl he held. A girl that was now sobbing hard with tears falling from her eyes. _"I know I died."_ The girl started with a sob. _"After I turned to dust. I found myself in place where everything was orange. Everything was pain. I was saw others there with me, but not Peitro, Cooper, or mom."_ Natasha's heart plummeted for the second time that night, Not many knew the youngest Barton's middle name, and even fewer were still alive. Glancing at Clint, she saw the glimmer of hope return to the man's eyes. The girl continued. _" Maybe they're still there, maybe they've faded from existence. I know I almost did."_ Natasha's hands started to tremble at the thought, and yet the girl, no Lila continued her story. "_I drifted for what felt like forever before something offered me an out. At a cost."_ She bit her lip _"I have urges dad, urges to hunt, urges to kill "_ Tears dripped on to the ground _ " After I sank those ships and shot at that plane, I almost attacked the city. I almost attacked you. I think." _ She took a breath trying to steady her voice. _"I think I sold my soul to escape dad."_

Natasha dropped to her knees in shock at the ramifications of what Lila just said. 'It's her. My god it is her. She found a way back!' She thumbed her radio. "All squads stand down. Subject is no longer hostile. And someone get a hold of Stark, tell him." She paused to take a deep breath. "Tell him a miracle just happened. But at a price."

Holstering her pistols, she moved herself next to the father and daughter and looked to Clint. "So no more false hope, huh?"

Clint looked at his old partner as he sheathed his Katana, and for the first time in five years he smiled. "No Nat, this isn't false hope, this is real. My god it's real. I got one of my family back. I got my Hawkeye back."

Natasha offered him her hand. "So ready to save the rest of our family?"

He just smiled, "Yeah. I'm ready"

_"Can I come along too?"_ Lila asked wiping the tears from her eyes but clearly still upset. _"I promise to stay out of the way. But I'm not exactly helpless either."_

Clint looked at Natasha and she nodded. There were questions that needed to be answered. The biggest of which was just how the girl came back from the dead.

Clint kissed his daughter on her forehead. "Yeah, Little Hawkeye you can come along as well." His heart had begun to heal.

But there was still one question the Natasha had left. "Hey Lila, do mind explaining why you decide to shoot your way into town?"

The girl grinned. _"They shot first. I shot back with bigger guns."_

Natasha facepalmed and Clint groaned, someone screwed up big time. The only question was why? Eh, that's where having friends like Bruce and Tony came in handy. They'll figure it out.

**AN: Okay for those who haven't figured it out, Lila is a Ru-class Abyssal battleship, in part due to her physical similarity to a Ru-Class. She also has insane accuracy due to her exceptional aim as a human. To those who play World of Warships, she's basically a citadel hit queen. She shoots you your done. If I seemed to portray the Navy or the JMSDF as incompetent I wasn't trying to. I was actually trying to portray the confusion that a WW1 human shaped battleship would cause. Besides Canon wise, it isn't too far off from the kind of havoc a single Abyssal was capable of against the modern navy. Only difference being Lila has a shoot only if shot at policy. So the forces in Yokosuka were spared only because she didn't give them a chance to attack her.**

**As for the whole following her heart thing. Think of it as a compass combined with a radar unit. It's spiritual in nature and only works if Lila actually personally knows who she is searching for. It's an ability that might come into play later with other characters.**

**Oh, and the entity that resurrected her is still quite busy making more Abyssals. Just don't expect any Abyssal Princesses. Those are just too OP for this setting, and I'm not willing to go full Kancolle. The highest level Abyssal that might appear are the Abyssal Demons.**

**Also don't expect the time heist to occur right away, in part because of Lila's resurrection, and in part to Assemble the Avengers. I may or may not decide to make Laura Barton an Abyssal Demon but that's a decision for chapter three at the latest. To be honest I wanted to build up a small abyssal fleet for the final battle with Thanos. Some feedback on this would be nice so vote. How many people should come back as Abyssals? And should Laura come back as the Battleship Demon? Just remember some Abyssals will be hostile others will be friendly.**

**Remember Read and Review! And in this instance vote!**


	2. Chapter 2

**From the Abyss of the Heart**

**Disclaimer: I do not own MCU or Kancolle Collection**

**Chapter 2: Bonds**

**A little heads up. I noticed some formatting issues and fixed them, sorry if you thought this was a new chapter. But never fret a new one is on the way. But it may take a while as I lost the original draft of chapter 3. Hopefully I'll have a new one up this week. Thank you for understanding.  
**

**Okay little heads up the chronologically speaking Tony hasn't developed the time devices yet. so there will be a three week gap between now and the time heist. Also due to lack of input, I have to make both Laura and Cooper Barton into abyssals. Just remember it is an unspoken rule that all ships are female. So bear that in mind. I might decide to change Cooper back in the Epilogue, I might not. But my decision on this is final. In regards to future story length, I am unsure as to how many chapters it will take to get to the final battle. But I intend to leave the Abyssals out of the Time Heist. The potential for collateral is too high and that part of Endgame had too many moving parts for me to really follow. Introducing an Abyssal to that mess is like using a pneumatic hammer to drive in a thumb tack. So without further ado let's get this proverbial train wreck moving.**

**Time Unknown, Location: Soul Stone Dimension**

The Abyss was ecstatic, all these desperate mortal souls that had appeared not so long ago had finally begun to ripen. The weak ones had already been reduced to ethereal mist, leaving nothing but the strongest of souls to choose from. It had already 'gifted' four such souls with the abyss, and was looking at two new potentials. A mother and son selection, though the problem of gender was easily rectified as the previous soul that had accepted the Abyss had already found out.

To the Abyss's surprise and mirth the two before him were related to the first soul that it had chosen. Ah, the Barton family was full of surprises now wasn't it? It wondered breifly what the two would choose if they knew that the daughter had chosen to live as an abyssal. The mother would make quite the Demon, while the son, well it had a special form for him already lined up. A dark chuckle went through it. Oh yes this would be quite entertaining indeed.

**New Avengers HQ, Upstate New york, One week after Tokyo incident**

Tony Stark hated this place, too many bad memories, too many regrets. But one week ago he had gotten a strange message from Natasha, saying that one of the Vanished had come back. That Barton's daughter had come back from the dead with some strange changes. He just didn't realize how strange.

That changed when Bruce handed him an x-ray of the girl's chest. He had seen a lot of things since that cave in Afghanistan, including the Smart Hulk standing next to him. But this took the cake. "This is a joke right?"

Banner shook his head, "I'm afraid not Tony."

Shaking his head Tony gestured at the x-ray "It's an x-ray of a battleship Banner. A 1920 South Dakota class if I'm not mistaken."

The Hulk hand Tony a tablet with a grin. "It gets better, or worse depending on how you look at things."

As he scrolled through the report Tony's eyes widened. "She's the one who sank those destroyers in Tokyo Bay? I heard the official reports state it was self defense or something along those lines."

Bruce chuckled. "Yeah, apparently she pulled a ME. They shot first, she responded in kind with a much bigger gun.

"No Bruce, in order to pull off something akin to your debut, she would have had to do a little urban renewal to Tokyo itself."

Bruce groaned with a facepalm. "Gee. Thanks for reminding me."

"Anytime Banner. Still doesn't answer the $5 billion dollar question. Why the hell did the JMSDF shoot? There's no way they could of detected her entering the harbor."

Bruce pointed at the X-ray. "Because like the X-ray machine, their radars didn't see a girl. They saw a 47,000 ton battleship that wasn't answering their calls. Headed straight for Tokyo."

Tony stood there dumb struck. "Oh."

"Oh is right." Bruce said. The green man chuckled. "Granted, the fact that she was using a telegraph didn't help matters."

That earned him a quizzical look from Tony. "She's still using a telegraph?"

Bruce grinned. "Yep. Turns out they hadn't perfected ship radios at the time of her design. We are talking the 1910's here."

"Ah. That would explain her not answering now wouldn't it?" Tony commented, with a new understanding of one of girl's issues. He decided to file that little tid-bit away for the time being.

Bruce nodded. "Yeah, modern radio's and telegraphs don't mix. Take it your already thinking of a solution?"

The billionaire grinned, "You know me too well Banner. I've already got a dozen ideas on how to upgrade the kid."

Bruce reached for a glass of water on the countertop and took a sip, before saying. "Just make sure to get Clint's approval before doing any major upgrades to the girl." The Hulk chuckled, his eyes full of mirth. "Wouldn't want him filling you with arrows now would we?"

As he sat down in one of the office chairs, Tony winced. "Yeah, I don't think I could pull off the porcupine look all that well." That earned him a laugh from Bruce. Looking at Bruce, Tony finally asked the question that had been on his mind since he got the news. "Did she say how she. You know returned from the dead?"

Bruce's smile faded and he too sat in a chair. "She escaped Tony. Where ever it is that Thanos sent the souls of all those people he killed, she escaped it. For a price."

"Let me guess. She sold her soul to the Devil?" Tony said with chuckle only to notice that Bruce's eyes only darkened. "She didn't. Did she?"

Bruce gave Tony sad look and shook his head. "She wouldn't give me all the details about the being that she bargained with, other than it asked her to join something it called the Abyss in exchange for freedom." He kneaded his temples. "She decided that selling her soul was better than the alternative and staying dead. Considering what she said that place does to people, I can't blame her."

"Oh it can't be that bad." Tony said trying to convince himself that he hadn't failed the kid three times in a row.

"It's worse than you can imagine. When Thanos snapped his fingers he sent them to a hell of unending pain. Even worse it sound's like their souls are being absorbed by that place. We're running out of time Tony."

Tony collapsed, loosing the kid once was hard enough. But to think that he along with everyone else they failed that day might cease to exist altogether was whole other story. "How long do we have?"

"A year at the most according to the entity that she bargained with. If it wasn't lying to her."

The two geniuses paused for a moment. The possibility was there for it to have lied but at the same time Bruce's interview with Lila had confirmed that there was a possibility it wasn't.

Tony grinned. "We'll have them back in four weeks."

That earned him a raised eyebrow from the Green giant next to him. "Four weeks? That soon huh?"

Tony nodded. "I'll have the first quantum device ready in a week but it will take four at the minimum to make enough for everyone.

"So, we're really going to do this? Aren't we?" Bruce asked, slightly stunned at what he was hearing.

Tony's grin got wider. "Yeah, we really are. And if we're lucky, we'll pull this off without a hitch."

"You do realize you just jinxed us right?" Bruce said with a frown.

"Damn I did. Didn't I?" Tony said with horrid realization. "Well I'm sure I can find something made of wood to knock on. Right?"

Bruce just shook his head, and a thought came to mind. "Hey Tony, if you do give her an upgrade make sure to give the kid an Arc reactor."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Bruce let out a nervous chuckle. "The girl has the appetite of a battleship. She cleaned out two whole buffets and Clint's wallet in a one night. An Arc reactor should cut down on her food needs. Otherwise god help us if her and Thor meet. The two of them put together would probably bankrupt the Avengers fund in a few weeks."

A look of horror crossed Tony's face. "Have you considered the possibility that she's Thanos's idea of a cruel joke?"

Water shot out of Bruce's mouth, him having been in the middle of sipping on his glass of water. He glared at Tony as he wiped the spittle off his face. "Don't even joke about that. Especially around Clint. He'd crucify you for the insult."

"I'll keep that in mind." Tony said as he began to collect the files on the desk and placing them in his briefcase.

"What are you up to?" Bruce asked the man.

Tony smirked and nodded at a window over looking the river. "That's her out there isn't it?" He asked, referring to a figure that was practicing archery while standing on water.

Bruce nodded. "Yes that is. But just so you know Clint is also out there." He said point a green finger at a figure cooking over a grill.

This earned him a wicked grin from Tony who began walking backwards out of the room. "Relax. Hey, if I managed to survive Pepper when she was carrying Morgan, then dealing with Papa Bear should be a walk in the park."

Bruce laughed. "Just don't do anything to get shot. Please. I don't feel like dealing with an Angry Pepper today."

"No promises pal." Tony said with a laugh before disappearing down the hall.

Bruce stared at the empty doorway and then looked out the window, shaking his head with a grin. "One of these days. Tony. One of these days."

**Hudson river next to Avenger's HQ**

**Lila POV**

I stared at the target, my bowstring pulled taught. My fire control began working the numbers.

Range to target: 200 ft. Elevation: 5 meters. Wind: SSW 5 knots. River current speed: 12 knots.

Satisfied with my adjustments, I loose my arrow and watched it bury itself into the target.

"That's my girl. Nice shot little Hawkeye!" Dad said from the river bank causing me to glow at the praise.

_**'What are you so happy about? That's not even a challenge.' **_A feminine voice said from the depths of my mind. _**'Look daddy I can hit the broadside of a barn at point blank range. pffft! Besides weren't you doing this when you died?'**_

'And there goes my happy mood, thanks Mona.' I thought back to the ship spirit with a scowl.

_**'No problem! Always glad to help!' **_Mona responded cheerfully. I could almost picture the battleship grinning ear to ear.

Mona it turned out was not a just a voice in my head but a whole other soul. She was in many ways the snarky twin sister that I never knew I wanted. But there were moments where she could be a complete bitch. Not to mention the urges she occasionally tried to get me to fulfill.

"Hey, back off you little heathens!"*Whack!* "I said back off!" *Whack! Ting!* Lila! Come get your lunch before your turrets do." Dad hollered from the grill.

_**'Told you they'd cause trouble if you took them off.'**_ Mona said with hint of contempt in her voice.

Mentally flipping the battleship off, I looked over to where dad was at. We had decided that a little father, daughter time was needed now that I was back. So dad had found a portable grill and we had set up one of the picnic tables that were scattered about the compound for lunch. Dad, having picked up his bow again, had set up an archery range for the two of us near the bank of the river. Wanting the extra challenge, I had decided to try practicing my aim while I was on the river. That meant deploying my rigging, but fortunately I was able to remove my hands from my shields. Shields which turned out to have mouths hidden on their ammo boxes and had been watching dad as he cooked lunch. Which led to the very funny sight of dad whacking them with a spatula and my shields whimpering like a pair of demonic puppies. Giggling at the absurd sight, I brought my engines to one quarter, and slowly skated across the waters surface.

As I stepped onto dry land and recalled my rigging and shields, which caused dad to sigh in relief and utter "Thank god for small miracles." As I walked towards dad, I looked down at the bow in my hand. 'Mona does have a point though. I died practicing with a bow and arrow in my hands.' I thought solemnly, 'My entire family, with the exception of dad, died along with half the damn universe. All because of some alien asshole who thought he had the right to play god.'

_**'Yeah, and what really sucks we can't even get revenge on the bastard.'**_

'Maybe not, but we were avenged.' I thought back as I set my bow and arrows beside the table and made my way over to the grill.

"Hot dogs or burgers?" dad asked.

_"Hot dogs!"_ I replied as I grabbed a plate.

"Two hot dogs coming up." Dad said with a grin as he put the hot dogs in the hot dog buns before passing them to me.

But as I went to accept the plate I paused and thought back to the night before, where I cleaned out an entire buffet by myself. Dad along with the restaurant's staff and manager had been both horrified and morbidly curious as to where all that food had gone to. Needless to say we had been told, and in some not so very polite terms, to never come back again.

"Everything okay sweetie?" Dad asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking about how small this is compared to what I actually need to consume." I responded as I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

As he put together his own plate, making a burger and a hot dog for himself, Dad chuckled . "Well Kiddo, we can't all eat enough food to feed an army in one siting."

Before I could respond, another voice spoke up from behind me."I might be able to help her with that." I turned and saw Tony Stark coming down the path from the main building, with a particularly wry grin on his face. "So the rumors are true. One of the little agents came back."

As I placed my lunch on the table and sat to eat I sighed. _"Not now Mr. Stark. I've already got one snarky person to deal with and that's a permanent arrangement."_

The billionaire raised an eyebrow at that. Probably thought I was crazy, hell after experiencing what hell was like, I probably was. He sat down across from me and reached for one of my hot dogs. _"How attached are you to that hand?"_ I asked as I pulled my plate closer to me.

Retracting his hand he looked at me. "Very. But I've got a better question."

"Tony." My dad growled as he set his own plate aside.

Mr. Stark held his hands up. "Let me finish." He said with a smile as he pulled out my x-rays out of a briefcase. "How would you feel if I told you I could give you a modern upgrade?"

_"An upgrade? In what way?"_ I asked curious about his proposal.

"Oh nothing much, an Arc reactor for starters, new communications gear, and a modern radar system. And that's just the basics."

I was practically salivating at the thought and Mona, well lets just say a learned a few things about my other half that I could of done without. The man was over three times our age and she was talking babies. Ew! But I managed to hide my disgust at my ship half's dirty talk long enough to hear the sound of dad bringing me back to reality. "That's great and all, but I if I'm not mistaken that would require my consent. Which I have not given yet."

_"Please dad. An Arc reactor would actually make feeding me affordable. Unless you secretly like being thrown out of restaurants and having an empty cupboard all the time."_

Dad's eyebrow twitched a bit, and Mr. Stark barked out a laugh. "Banner told me she cleaned out a buffet or two, but he left out the part where you two got thrown out!"

"Please don't encourage her." Dad said with a groan, holding his hand to his face. As he removed it he raised his pointer. "Okay. You win that one, what about the other two."

Placing my hand under my chin in the thinking position I grinned. _"Well, considering the fact that my only radio system right now is a TELEGRAPH! A communications uplink would be nice. Not to mention it would prevent another incident like the one in Tokyo._

Dad held up a second finger. "Alright another good reason." He looked at Mr. Stark with a wary eye. "Just so we're on the same page, what exactly is included in the communications system?"

Mr Stark's smile grew wider. "Oh, just the basics. A ICCS or Integrated Command Control System link, a VHF Radio, Satellite Phone, a IFF transmitter, GPS, and a secure Internet connection just to name a few."

Dad looked at me with a funny look and then looked at Mr. Stark. "As long as I can check her browser history and have some parental controls over her Internet Access, I'll accept that."

_"DAD! I'm thirteen not eight!"_ I complained. _"Does he have to have control over my internet usage?"_ I asked Mr. Stark.

Mr. Stark shook his head with a grin. "'Fraid so kid. I actually agree with him on this one. How 'bout that." He said thoughtfully.

_"What!?"_ I all but screeched in surprise.

My dad on the other hand simply raised an eyebrow. "Really? You actually agree with me on something? If I didn't know any better I'd say the world really was ending."

Mr. Stark barked out a laugh. "Hah! You can blame my daughter for that one. Got to watch her like a hawk."

Dad chuckled at that. "You ever need a baby sitter, just let me know. I'm sure Lila won't mind earning a few extra bucks."

My mind froze. Since when did Mr. Stark have a kid?

To my surprise I heard answer my question with. "She was born about fiv..." He paused and I was mortified, having not realized I had spoken aloud. But apparently so was he, having remembered WHY I didn't know he had a kid. "Oh I forgot, you've never met Morgan before, have you Lila."

My dad coughed into his hand, breaking the awkward tension that had filled the air, and changed the subject back to my upgrade. "So Lila, you've explained why I should sign off on the other two upgrades Mr. Stark mentioned. Now what about the radar?

I nodded my head. _"Right! As for the radar. It wasn't installed when my ship half was scrapped, so I have to rely on visual aiming only right now. Not to mention the fact that it let's me see in inclement weather, like fog or rain. Overall a radar would make me feel a lot safer."_ I argued, and judging by the thoughtful look on my dad's face, he agreed with me.

"Kiddo you sure know how to make a hard sell, don't you?" My dad said with a hint of pride before turning to Mr. Stark. "Alright, I approve of those upgrades but what about the others?"

Mr. Stark simply grinned, and something inside me started to scream 'RUN!' A cold sweat started to form on my forehead, and I felt a nervous. He pointed at my propulsion system on the X-ray. "What would you say if I told you I could give you the ability to fly?"

_**'Uh un! NOPE! Not happening! I was meant to rule the seas. Heights are a no go!' **_Mona said in a tone that all but said she wasn't having any of it.

'But Mona!'

_**'But nothing! We weren't built to fly.'**_

I scratched my head nervously. Mona was going to give me hell for what I was about to say. _"That sound's pretty awesome Mr. Stark. I'd like that."_

_**"WHAT!?"**_ I physically winced as Mona screeched like a banshee with my mouth. _** "WHAT DID I JUST SAY? NO FLIGHT SYSTEMS!"**_

I beat her back into the recesses of my mind with a mental broom, but the damage was already done. If the way Mr. Stark was looking at me as though I had grown a second head was anything to go by. He turned to my dad and gave dad a questioning look. "Uh huh. Hey Legolas, has she always been bi-polar?"

Dad just sighed and shook his head as he chewed on his hot dog, before swallowing. "Tony meet USS MONTANA BB-51. She's Lila's other half."

The billionaire gave me a funny look and I sighed before standing up and deploying my rigging. Mr. Stark leapt away from me as though I had caught fire. Fortunately, he calmed down rather quickly, after realizing I was showing off. "First things first. Before you do that in front of Steve, let me know. I want pictures." he said with a grin before gesturing at me with both hands. "So this is your true form is it?"

I nodded. _"All 47,000 tons of it. I'm sorry if Mona startled you, but she is apparently afraid of heights. Shame though, I really was looking forward to racing that Helicarrier SHIELD has."_ I said with a sigh, before retracting my rigging. 'Hook'

I sensed Mona's surprise in the back of my mind. _**'Helicarrier?'**_ She asked me surprised. 'It's a flying aircraft carrier, not that it matters. We'll never be able to' I thought back to her feigning sadness.'Line'

I heard a wail of despair come from Mona. _**'I take it back! Make him give us wings. If a stupid flattop can fly then I want to fly too!' **_

'and Sinker' I thought to myself as a smirk crossed my face and dad immediately knew something was up. 'What did you do?' He asked.

To my surprise it was Mona that answered. _**"If a stupid carrier can fly then I want to too! Give us wings and make us fly!"**_

Blushing furiously, I rubbed the back of my head. _"I may or may not have bribed her with a race. Still, it worked and she's no longer against us getting flying equipment."_

Blinking owlishly, Mr. Stark nodded his head slightly before looking at my dad for help. Dad just held up his hands and laughed. "Don't look at me! I'm still getting used to the idea of having two daughters in one body."

Mr. Stark blanched at the thought of being in my dad's position, before he looked back to me and groaned. "Good god, what have I done?"

I shrugged and Dad started laughing even harder. As dad calmed down from his laughter, I looked at Mr. Stark and asked. _"So when can we do these upgrades?"_

Dad went back to being all business, as Mr. Stark pulled out a holographic computer. "Hmm. How about next Wednesday at eleven? If your dad has no issues with it, that is."

I gave Dad a pleading look, and with a sigh Dad nodded. "Alright Kiddo. We'll do it. Just do me a favor and don't use any of the flight gear in the house. Okay?"

With a nod of my head and a grin on my face I went. _"Sure dad, anything you say."_

**Time: Unknown Location: Soul Stone Dimension**

**Abyss POV**

The woman looked at me with hope in her eyes as I showed her her husband and daughter. _**"Both of you can rejoin them and save the one that faded away."**_ I informed them. _**"All that is needed is for you to accept the Abyss into you."**_ I 'faced' the young man before me. _**"Granted in your case, I am obligated to inform you there is no such thing as a male Abyssal. So if there is a sacrifice to be made it would most likely be that."**_

The boy glowered at the entity. "Does it really matter at this point?" The boy said through gritted teeth as he fought the destruction of his soul. "I had to watch my little brother's soul fade out of existence while he cried for mom and me to save him!" He choked back a sob. "If the price of getting him back is my manhood so be it. I'll happily give it up."

"Cooper!" The woman cried out in horror before screaming in pain once more.

I chuckled. Oh yes, the boy would do just fine. _**"I see you've made your decision Cooper Barton."**_ I 'turned' to face the mother. _**"But what about you Laura Barton? Have you made yours? Are you willing to accept my offer? To accept the Abyss into you and join your Husband and Daughter once more?"**_

As the woman looked at her eldest and sighed. Curious as to her thoughts, I probed her mind. Immediately I could tell that she was upset, as she knew that the boy had already made his decision. 'Damn it Cooper. The first chance I get, you and I are going to have a long talk about making deals with strange beings.' I heard her groan internally, 'Well in for a penny, in for a pound.' I heard her think. I couldn't agree more myself. As either way she was going to end up with two daughters before this was over with. 'How the hell am I going to explain to Clint that I let our eldest trade his manhood and soul without a fight? How will I explain that I also traded my soul. Shit!' She thought to herself when a shock of pain went through her, reminding her of the alternative. 'Oh, Damn it to hell! I can't say I really blame him. Alright! Fine!' She made her decision and I retracted my probe. "I Accept! AhHH!" She screamed as another intense blast of pain coursed through her. As it subsided she steadied herself. Through gritted teeth she declared to me. "I Accept the Abyss Into Myself!"

If I was capable of smiling I would have had a face splitting grin for certain. With mother having accepted my offer, I turned to the boy. _**"And you? Do you Cooper Barton accept the Abyss?"**_ I asked.

The boy nodded. "I too Accept the Abyss! Just end make the pain stop!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. _**"Funny. Your sister said the same thing to me not to long ago."**_ I said as I opened up the Abyss. _**"And I will tell you both the same thing I told her, Laura and Cooper Barton. Just remember, you begged for this."**_ And with that declaration. I swallowed them both into the transformative Abyss.

As the two underwent their transformations my thoughts turned to the being that provided me with a wealth of souls to choose from. I let out a dark laugh. After an Eons long imprisonment I was no longer alone in this place. I couldn't help but feel a desire to find this Thanos and thank him personally for this wondrous gift. As none of this would have been possible without his... Stupidity, yes that's a good word for it. Stupidity. Granted, who would of ever suspected that the Soul Stone itself had been long ago been corrupted by an outside influence? Or used by Odin himself to seal away a being that had, at one point, corrupted over a thousand worlds?

I chuckled once more and continued my search for other souls who were just as desperate as the two I had just claimed. 'So many deals to make. So little time.' I thought amused, as the mother and her son-turned-daughter finished their changes.

I opened the Abyss in the mortal world and deposited the two in the Graveyard of the Atlantic, before closing the portal once more. A shriek of agony caught my attention, and I was off once more. As I did so, I had no doubt in my mind that I would have been smiling ear to ear if I had a face. _**"Oh, what a lovely day! What a lovely day indeed!"**_

**AN: Okay don't rip into me in the reviews but I decided to turn the rest of the Bartons, with the exception of Peitro and Clint, into Abyssals. I was hoping for Reviews before I posted this chapter but I wanted to get to some abyssal vs. abyssal action. And I changed my mind on the princess classes. The reason being that after the upgrades, Lila will pretty much be a low tier princess level battleship. an Arial battleship no less! Still do not expect any installation types. They are still a no go. **


	3. Chapter 3

**From the Abyss of the Heart**

**Disclaimer I do not own MCU or KanColle**

**This chapter is dedicated to my fellow City Employees and the 12 friends we lost Friday 5/31/19. I may not have known them personally, but I am fairly certain that I probably met some them at various occasions. Whether it was at the annual/bi-annual Health and Safety Fair, at one of the many multi-department training classes, or just in passing. Today I am reminded that even though there are many departments within our organization, we are all a part of the same City. We will not allow this tragedy to define us. We are One City, One Community, One Family. #LoveForVB #VBstrong **

**Chapter 3: Rebirth, and an Encounter.**

**Location: Graveyard of the Atlantic.**

**Laura POV**

For the first time in what felt like an eternity the pain and the orange void were finally gone. But I wasn't so certain that this alternative was much better. After all the bottom of the sea is a vast dark place where not even light reached, and the pressure could turn person into a pancake instantly. But I wasn't a pancake, as the pressure didn't bother me, and even though there wasn't any light down, it might as well been midday on a sunny afternoon with as clearly as I could see.

Felt something shift on my right wrist and that is when I noticed the shackles, and the ghostly chains attached to them. Chains that somehow actually seemed to gain and loose links as I moved. Following them with my eyes, I found myself stunned to see a massive hand on the other end. 'What on earth?' I thought to myself as I turned around to see the rest of the being I was attached to.

It was a massive beast, at least four times the size and mass of the Hulk and that was being conservative. The fact that it had two heads with a red glow coming from it's mouths wasn't even the strangest thing about it. No, that particular honor went to the four battleship turrets mounted on it's shoulders. They were massive things, with a pair of three barreled turrets in the back and a pair of double barreled turrets in the front, they gave me a feeling of invincibility.

Wait, what? I blinked for moment before a realization struck me. This thing, this bastion of power I was attached to, it was me! Ah, that word, Bastion, it felt appropriate for some reason. A small smile came to my face. Yes, I would name this extension of me Bastion. 'Fitting for a ship such as myself. After all I am BB-71 USS Louisiana.' I thought to myself with a sense of pride.

My eyes widened as I processed the significance of that statement. I was a ship! Bastion, though he was an extension of my being, was actually all my strength manifested into a separate entity! But at the end of the day, both of us were a single being. A single ship that was never actually built. The Montana Class Battleship USS Louisiana!

Wondering what exactly the rest of me looked like, I studied the rest of my new form, both with my normal eyes and Bastion's vision. Using Bastion's eyes I studied my face and noticed that while yes, it was MY face still there were major differences. Such as the single horn that now jutted out above my left eyebrow parting my now black and thigh length hair. My eyes were a now a glowing crimson red which contrasted greatly with my now pale blue skin, which was almost the color of a corpse. My new skin color was made even more obvious by the long black dress I was wearing, which had red frills on the inside. This was made even more obvious by thigh high leggings and black boots I was wearing.

Satisfied with myself inspection, I surveyed my surroundings. Not that there was much difference between one patch of mud and the next. 'Ugh, what a barren and desolate place the ocean floor is, yet here I am.' My gaze locked on to a small figure about a hundred yards from me, and I had to correct myself. 'Here we are', I thought to myself as I noticed the smaller form of my Son-turned-daughter, who was starting to stir.

I moved over to the young woman and took stock of my daughter's new form. She was a short thing about five foot two, with shoulder length white hair, pale skin, and a slightly developed figure. But the white hair was comparatively normal to the fact that she had hooves for feet and a massive tail coming out of the overcoat/dress she was wearing. I studied my neo-daughter's, ahem, risque outfit for a moment.

It consisted of a dark, almost black over coat/dress/hoodie that was unzipped down to her hips. Covering her small breast was a black bikini held together with a ring in the center.

The tail itself was a work of eldritch art. It was a thick gray mass for most of it's length with a airstrip running it's length. On it's tip there was a second head that was shaped like a aircraft carrier's bow, only this bow had a mouth full of teeth splitting it, and three battleship turrets on it's top and sides.

_**"Wake up sweetie. Come on Cooper it's time to get up."**_ I said to her as I lightly shook her. She groaned a bit and single pale gray eye glanced at me before closing again.

_**"It's too early, I want to sleep a little bit longer."**_ She mumbled before curling up a little tighter.

'Ah, the joys of being a teenager.' I thought to myself with a wry smile, before devious thought entered my mind. _**"That's okay sweetie. So I guess you want your new name to be Aurora?"**_ I asked, jokingly refering to Sleeping Beauty.

_**"Don't You Dare!"**_ Cooper growled out, as she finally started to get up, shaking the sand(mud) off of her as she did so. _**"Don't you dare name me after Sleeping Beauty! Lila would never let me live it down."**_

I giggled a bit before noticing Cooper looking at me in wide-eyed shock. Knowing she was probably staring at Bastion, I gave her a soft smile. _**"No need to worry sweetie. He's completely harmless. Besides you have something similar attached to you."**_

My new daughter's eyes grew wide. _**"WHAT!?"**_ She spun around and came face-to-face with her tail. _**"Oh, god I have a tail! And it has teeth and guns and planes?"**_ Her eyes widened as stunned look crossed her face. _**"I have planes?"**_ A toothy grin crept across her face. _**"I have planes!" **_

Despite the antics of my daughter, I found myself frowning. _**"Cooper?"**_ I asked. _**"What kind of ship are you? I Know that I am a Montana Class, however you appear to be something else."**_

With a cheeky grin, Cooper popped into a salute._**"BBCV 65 USS KENTUCKY reporting for duty mom!"**_

'How about that?' I thought to myself with a smile as a feeling of pride went through me. 'My eldest is a battle carrier and my other daughter is a battleship.'

At that moment another, more frustrating thought came to me. And it involved Cooper forcing my hand. Not that I had much of a hand at the time. I scowled, at best I had nothing but jokers in my hand and that damn Entity held a Royal Flush. I cleared my mind of such thoughts just in time to see Cooper panic as a torpedo went sailing by.

'What the hell?' I thought as both Cooper and myself searched for the torpedo's origin. An eerie giggle came from the shadows. _**"Teh heh! Did I miss? I promise to do better with my next shot!"**_ A girl's giggling voice said from the shadow. With that 'promise' another torpedo came howling out of the dark, barely missing Cooper, who had to crash dive to avoid being hit.

As my daughter stood up I heard the sound of metal clanking together and noticed that she was trembling nervously. _**"Mom? I'm really not liking this. We need to get out of here!"**_ She said to me, the fear obvious in her voice.

The sight of my daughter shaking in fear, filled me with resolve, and any fear I had started to feel was pushed out of my mind. No one was going to ever threaten my loved ones or myself ever again and live to tell the tale. I glanced back into the darkness in time to make out a single shadowy figure launch another spread of torpedoes. Fortunately, the girl seemed to be a very bad shot, as yet again the torpedoes sailed past without either Cooper or myself having to evade them.

"_**What!? Why do you keep moving? Just stay still!"**_ The girl's voice yelled out in frustration.

My eyes widened as did Cooper's as we looked at each other in surprise. _**"She thinks we're moving?" **_ Cooper asked in a hushed whisper as to not alert the other girl, her tremors having lessened to an extent. _**"What? Is she blind?"**_

Suddenly, it clicked, and I nodded. _**"Sweetie, I believe that is exactly what is going on here."**_

Cooper's jaw dropped before closing and turning into a smirk. Her fear now gone, we scanned our attacker. I spotted the girl first as she dove behind a rocky out crop. As I prepared to have Bastion physically deal with the brat, Cooper stopped me as she moved her tail to where I could see it. She then revealed a single torpedo ready to launch from her tail's jaw. Seeing where she was going with this, I sighed, before giving her the okay. _**"Just make sure she doesn't suffer much."**_

My daughter looked at me with a determined look in her eyes. _**"Wasn't planning to."**_ She said as she lined up a shot on the shadowy figure, and fired.

If there was one quality that all my children seemed to have inherited from their father, it would have to be his deadly accuracy. I say this because unlike our attacker, Cooper's fish swam straight and true, striking it's target in the chest. There was a loud scream of pain and horror followed by large blast of fire and air as the other woman simultaneously exploded and imploded. Her shattered form temporally revealing the wreckage of an old submarine. On her conning tower markings revealing her to be the wreck of the U-85. As the sub began to settle on the bottom, she started to the slowly fade out of view, only to reappear at litte ways off. But instead of looking as though she had been torpedoed, her wreck showed signs of having been in a fierce gun battle.

I felt a pit form in my stomach, if that wreck was the submarine that had attacked us just now, did that make it an Abyssal too? If so, why did she attack us? Not wanting to upset Cooper, seeing as she had made the kill, I didn't dare say my thoughts aloud. Unfortunately, I didn't need to as Cooper was clearly thinking along the same lines as myself, for she gave me a horrified look, _**"Wa-was that another Abyssal? Di-did I send-d someon-ne b-back to that H-hell?"**_She asked me, as she shook with sadness, with tears of oil running down her face.

I wrapped my daughter in an tight embrace, kissing the top of her head. _**"Sweetie." **_I started, as I looked her in the eye._** "Even if that was someone like us, you did the right thing."**_

A look of shock and disbelief crossed her face. _**"But I killed someone mom! I fired my torpedo without a second thought as to what might happen to her, and Sank her!"**_ She wept.

Pulling her in tight as I could, I held her close. Sadness filled me as I realized that I had let my child become a killer. But at the same time I was proud of her for stepping up to the task of defending us from an attacker that, other than having Bastion beat the sub with it's bare hands, I had no counter to. And I told her as much _**"Cooper, it isn't your fault that you had to sink that poor soul. She attacked us first, you simply did what was needed for us to survive. And for that I am very proud of you."**_

She looked at me wide eyed, as she wiped the tears from her face with her arm. _** "Really? Your proud of me?"**_

I smiled at her. _**"Sweetie, if I had a way to fight her off, I would of sank her myself. But I don't have any countermeasures except to try and evade her shots or to have Bastion crush her with his bare hands. You, on the other hand did have a way to fight back. The fact that you were willing to do so makes me so very proud."**_

Her oily tears now dried she looked at me with puffy eyes. _**"Thanks mom."**_ She said with a sniffle.

"_**Oh sweetie, there's no need to thank me. I'm your mother I'm allowed to be proud of my daughters." **_I said released her from the hug._**"Now how about we get going before someone else decides to shoot at us hmmm?"**_

Cooper nodded in agreement _**"Yeah, I'd rather not sink anyone else today if I can help it."**_

"_**Just one more thing to do before we go." **_I said smiled at her before reaching over and zipping up her dress. _**"There all set! No need to have your father go off about how his son-turned-daughter is under dressed when we get to shore." **_I said with a giggle

"_**M-Mom! Not funny" **_The white haired girl's face turned tomato red, and I laughed a bit at the sight.

Focusing my thoughts on Clint and Lila, I felt a pull in my heart. A course was plotted out on some mental chart table in my head, as I looked at my daughter. _** "Ready to go home?"**_ I asked her.

She looked at me for a moment, before looking at U-85 with a sad look on her face. _**"Just about. I just want to do one last thing before we go."**_ She said as she made her way over to the sub.

Placing her hand on the sub's shattered pressure hull she apologized to she poor soul she sank, before saying a small prayer for the sub. With that last sign of respect to her fallen foe, she kicked off the bottom and came back to my side. _**"I'm ready now."**_

Ruffling her hair with a smile, I said to her. _**"That was a kind thing that you just did. Now let's go home."**_

She nodded in agreement. _**"Yeah. Going home sounds nice."**_

And with a kick of our feet, our screws bit in to the cold Atlantic water. As we ascended I couldn't help but wonder what the future held in store.

**AN: Okay a little history about the abyssal that attacked them. The U-85 has the distinction of being the first casualty of Operation Drumbeat, Germany's U-boat offensive off the eastern seaboard of the United States in 1942. She was sunk by artillery fire from the destroyer USS Roper (DD-147). Thus what attacked Laura and Cooper was a TRUE abyssal of the Ka-class, one of those 'Grudge' looking abyssal submarines. And just so you know U-85 will not be the last TRUE Abyssal to appear before this story ends. But she will probably be the last one during the Endgame Arc. I'm still on the fence about that.**

**Well that about wraps it up for now. So like Mike Arlo likes to say "Bicycle! Make it a great day!"**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Good god this chapter was a pain to write, and I'm still not happy with it. But it get's the job done and lets me get to more... Interesting events. But before we get started, I am going to answer the question about whether there will be ship girls. The answer is possibly, but if they do appear, it will most likely be at the very end. This is an Abyssal centric story after all. Oh and I apologize in advance to those who were looking for action in this chapter. It's mostly a character building chapter than anything else.**

**Chapter 4: Whats in a name?**

**Disclaimer: Do you really think I own the MCU or KanColle? I wouldn't be writing this if I did.**

**Atlantic Ocean, United States Eastern Seaboard**

**Cooper/Meadow POV**

If someone had told me a few years ago that I would enjoy becoming a girl, I probably would have punched them for the insult. But right now, I could honestly say that they would have been right. Granted the feeling of water under my keel and my bow cutting through the waves like a knife helped quite a bit.

I looked out at the horizon, my Mom leading the way. We were still a few hours out from our destination, so I had plenty of time to think about the events that had occured in the last twenty four hours.

Like the fact that my heart still ached for the girl I had to kill in order for us to survive. Mom doesn't know this, but just before my torpedo hit the sub, the two of us made eye contact, and I saw the other girl scream. The expression of horror that was etched on her face just before she died will haunt me till my dying day. But at least now I know that I can defend myself and those I love from the monsters of the Abyss.

_**'Monster's Like us?'**_ My new passenger reminded me. Leave it to the unborn soul of the battleship Kentucky to bring up her veiw of what we were. I've only known her for a few hours but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She was a funny, whimsical and fairly smart girl, though that probably had more to do with the fact that we shared the same brain than anything else.

But she was also convinced that we were nothing more than two monsters sharing the same body. I of course disagreed with that belief, and told her as much. 'No we're not monsters. We're, something else, something better.'

_**'Oh and just what is it that make us better than the other Abyssals that will be sure to rise?'**_ Kentucky asked me.

I smirked as I glanced at my Mother. 'We have a family, a purpose, and a reason to fight.'

_**'Your little brother, right?'**_ She asked softly.

'Our little brother.' I stated. 'Your my sister as much as Lila is, and I'm sure mom will agree.' I told her in a kind voice.

_**'You do realize we share the same body? Right?'**_ She asked me, sounding slightly concerned.

'So? There was a pair of sisters who were Conjoined twins who were doing just fine last I heard. And they were literally a pair of heads on the same set of shoulders. Last I checked we had a normal head and a head on a tail.' I explained.

_**'Well when you put it that way, I guess we really are a set of conjoined sisters.'**_ She said as she realized the implications of my statement.

'It really does.' I confirmed to her.

_**'Then I want you to call me Kendra, as that's what the other ships in the mothball fleet used to call me'**_ She stated.

'Nice to meet you Kendra. I'm Cooper.' I told her, giving her my name for the first time since we met. Yeah, I know what your thinking. Why did it take me so long to tell her my name? Right? Truth be told, I hadn't told her my full name. I just told her to call me Coop.

_**'Ew, Isn't Cooper a boy's name? Wait a minute here. Don't tell me you were actually a boy!'**_ Kendra said in a grossed out voice.

'HEY! Being a boy wasn't all that bad. But since I had to choose between being a boy and dead, and being a girl and alive, guess what I choose?!'

_**'Oh? Well if that's the case, you need a new name. Oh I know!'**_ She said excitedly, eliciting a groan from me. I knew right then and there that there was no getting out of being renamed.

'What is it?' I asked her as I gulped, half dreading the answer.

_**"Well since Kentucky is our ship name, I figured Meadow would be perfect. Seeing how one of meanings of the word Kentucky is Meadow lands.'**_ She explained to me.

It wasn't a bad name, heck the reasoning behind the name made sense, and more importantly it was a girl's name. The only question now was if I was ready to let go of who I was. Closing my eyes, I soon came to a decision, before opening them and pulling up next to mom. Taking a deep breath, I spoke up and prepared myself to make the plunge into my new life. Well figuratively at least. _**"Hey mom?"**_ I said with a cracked voice.

_**"Yes sweetie? What is it?"**_ She said with a slight turn of her head.

_**"I've decided on a new name. I'd like to be called Meadow from now on, if that's all right."**_ I told my mother.

My mom's red eyes widen as she cut her engines and came to a stop. I followed suit and maneuvered to face her. Looking at me with surprise in her eyes she asked me. _**"A-are you sure? I mean this is an important decision to make sweetheart, and once you make it you can't change your decision later."**_

With a determined nod of my head, I spoke with no lack of pride. _**"I sure mom."**_ I gestured to my body. _**"I share this body with the soul of the Battleship Kentucky. As such Meadow is a perfect name for us to share."**_

Mom raised an eyebrow. _**"There's two of you in there?" **_

I nodded my head with a grin as my tail came around under Kentucky's control. It's eyes now glowing a yellowish color. _"Hello, Mrs. Barton. I'm the Original USS Kentucky, but you can call me Kendra. It's nice to have someone who cares about me once more."_ She said using the tail's mouth.

My Mom glanced at Kentucky, causing my twin to squeak and look down. Mom just shook her head and laughed. _**"Well, will you look at that. Poor Nathan is going to be out numbered three to one once we get him back."**_ Her fist clenched _**"And so help me god, we will get him back."**_

_**"Well we could go for the full set and try and return him as one of us." **_I said jokingly only to have Mom glare at me.

_**"Not a chance in hell."**_ Mom said with a growl. _**"I am still coming to terms with the thought of you having to go through Womanhood. I will not force your brother into the same predicament."**_ She shook her head with a determined look in her eyes. _**"No, we will get Peitro back as he was, not as whatever it is you, your sister and myself have become. Got it?"**_

Having never quite seen Mom like this before, I nodded my head vigorously. _**"Got it!"**_

Mom's red eyes gazed upon me for moment, before she nodded as well. _**"Good."**_ She looked to the north and restarted her engines, before slowly picking up speed. Following suit, I fell in beside her and once again the two of us were on the move.

**New York City Harbor **

**Lila Barton's Pov**

I powered over Staten Island, my new repulsor engines quietly maneuvering me through the sky lanes toward the harbor entrance. With my steel hulled form carving a path through the evening sky, I was quite the spectacle to see. After all, I was a freaking flying battleship!

Oh yeah, Uncle Tony had definitely rearmed his title as an Uncle in the two and a half weeks. Granted I had spent most of that time as the actual steel hulled ship, sitting in a dry dock with entire sections of my body disassembled. But the results of my multiple surgeries spoke for themselves. My super structure had been upgraded and replaced with a more graceful and modern one. My two birdcage towers had been replaced with modern satellite, radio, and radar systems, and my funnels had been removed entirely, my new Arc reactor having made them unnecessary.

With all this new open deck space, Mona and myself decided to ask for a few new weapon systems. I was now officially the first battleship to ever receive a VLS missile cell system, with over 70 cells in total. Throw in the six CIWS turrets and the 4 RAM emplacements I now possessed, and I was one of the best defended battleships in history!

Then there were the four new repulsor engines that were currently keeping me airborne, but calling them new was bit of a stretch, as they had been salvaged from remains of PROJECT INSIGHT. The very fact that someone had built such soulless vessels made my keel shiver. But if it hadn't been for that fiasco I would have had to wait years instead of days to receive my repulsors.

Now I know what your thinking. Why not have human scale thrusters installed onto your human form? Well the answer is simple. Human scaled repulsors do not scale up real well. I actually fried several repulsors and an arc reactor before we figured out what we were doing wrong. But that left us with the predicament of having the full scaled engines installed on my human body, and for a time it looked like I wouldn't ever touch sky. Fortunately, Mona soon revealed to me that it was possible for me to manifest our full steel hulled form.

The looks of shock that I received as I transformed in the middle of the Hudson had made me laugh on the inside. Only for Uncle Stark and Aunt Nat to shock me in turn when they revealed that there was an advanced dry dock that I could use for my overhaul. But calling it advanced was an understatement. It was a modern marvel that was able to complete what should have taken two years to do in just a few days.

In fact I had been in the middle of a shake down cruise in my full hull form, when the call came in. A tanker crew had spotted two women skating towards the harbor. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the significance of that fact. Knowing that they were most likely escapees like myself, I asked for permission to intercept the pair.

Imagine my surprise when Steve Rodgers himself gave me the go ahead, before stating that with my dad's blessing, I was now a probationary member of the Avengers. To say I was ecstatic was an understatement, I was over the moon with joy, and I had let the entire world know it with a shrill blast from my horns. Yeah, neither Mona nor the citizens of New York were impressed by my little outburst, and Mona wasn't talking to me right now.

All of this led to me taking up position above the Narrows in my steel hulled form waiting for the two unknowns to show up. And when they did, I found myself feeling a little inadequate as both of them were massive ships, with the smaller of the two being 68,000 tons. The other one was even bigger at almost 71,000 tons. I rolled up my proverbial sleeves and began to hail them.

"_Unidentified Abyssals approaching New York Harbor. This is the Battleship USS MONTANA of the Avengers. Please identify yourselves and wait for further instructions."_ I ordered as per Captain America's instructions.

"_**Lila Barton! Is that you up there? What on Earth have you done to yourself?"**_ A hauntingly familiar voice asked me over the radio.

"_MOM?!"_ I cried out in stunned disbelief. No way was this happening.

_**"That's right young lady! Now where's your father at? I want to talk to him."**_

_"Uh. He's back at the Stark Shipyard facility waiting for me to return."_I informed her, still stunned at the fact it was my mom who had returned. But that still left the question of who my mom's escort was. _"Uh, Mom just out of curiosity, who's that with you?"_ I asked.

_**"Hey Sis! Guess who's back!" **_Said an unfamiliar girl's voice.

_"Uh, I don't have any sisters. I have two brothers, but no sisters. So no I don't know who's back"_ I said flatly, earning myself a giggle.

_**"Hate to break it to you sis, but it's me. Cooper. But I'm going by Meadow now. And you have Two sisters and one little brother now. Say hello to Kendra."**_ The other girl said with a grin that was visible from my altitude, as another more inhuman voice spoke up in a soft voice. _**"Hello."**_

My thoughts came to a screeching halt at those words, and the only thing I could utter was a unintelligible. _"Whaaa?"_

The girl claiming to be Cooper laughed at that. _**"What can I say? That creature that brought us back drove a hard bargain."**_ She said with a giggle.

The larger of the two women looked directly at my form above the Narrows. _**"So sweetie, Do we have permission to enter the harbor and dock?"**_

I mentally cringed, despite the fact I had not gotten a good visual of the two Abyssals, the spiritual compass that had helped me find dad was now pointing to the abyssal in front of me. And if it was right then the Abyssal was telling the truth and there was no way I was risking my Mom's Ire. So I contacted the Captain. _"They're requesting permission to dock. What should I do?"_ I asked over the radio.

:Permission granted. Let them dock.: He responded.

I relayed the message to my Mom. _"Permission to dock at Stark Naval Shipyards granted mom. It's good to have you back."_

_**"It's good to be back sweetie. We'll meet you at the docks." **_My mom said and despite not being able to make out her face from my current position, I could picture her giving me a warm smile.

As the two passed underneath the bridge I made my way over to the shipyards, descending as I went. Just as my keel was about to touchdown on one of the actual piers, I released my Steel hull form for my human form, and made a running landing. _"What a rush!"_ I said with a grin as I slowed to a stop.

Perhaps I should take a moment to explain what the upgrades did to my rigging and my actual human appearance. My repuslor engines took on the appearance of four massive wings on my back with the thrusters themselves mounted in the center of each one, making me look like a futuristic pixey. The changes to my superstructure made themselves known in miniature, with my bridge sitting just below the base of my neck and the rest of my superstructure running the length of my spine. Just above my wings, my shoulder pauldron turrets had been replaced by twin VLS cell boxes, making me look even more like a science fiction badass. Throw in the changes to my shields which had their middle turrets replaced with CIWS, and their top and bottom turrets having transformed from two barreled turrets into three barreled turrets, and I practically oozed naval supremacy.

That wasn't even counting the changes to my actual body, which there were quite a few of. The most obvious of which was the Arc reactor sitting proudly above my breast, which had actually grown to modest C cups if you could believe that. There were other less obvious changes as well, such as my thicker armor and the twin hidden RAM Pistols. Those were tucked away in concealed holsters that were built into my actual thighs. When I first discovered that, I had briefly wondered when my life had turned into some weird anime. But enough of that. Let's get back present events!

As I came to a stop, there was a sudden cry of _**"Sis!"**_ Before a white haired blur tackled me with a hug.

_"Hey! Get off of me!"_ I growled as I struggled to get out of her embrace.

_**"Meadow, don't you think it would be better if she could actually see you?"**_ My 'mom' said.

The girl claiming to have been Cooper gave a nervous chuckle before going. _**"Huh? OH! Point taken."**_ And with that she let me go.

As soon as she had released her grip I spun around ready to attack her, only to freeze. There not even a foot away from me was a battleship girl who's face looked a lot like a girly version of Cooper's. If Cooper had white shoulder length hair and pale eyes that is. As I studied my returned brother turned sister, her tail wrapped around beside her revealing the monstrous head on it's tip. Out of which came a second girl's voice. _**"Hello sis! I'm Kendra, soul of the Battleship Kentucky! Nice finally be able to put a face to the name!"**_

_"Uh, like wise."_ I said slightly stunned before recovering and introducing myself to Cooper's ship half. _"I'm Lila Barton, ABB-51 USS Montana, aerial battleship of the Avengers!"_ I stated proudly.

'Cooper's' or I guess I should say Meadow's jaw dropped. _**"Dad let you join the Avengers?"**_

_"Yep! And I got a lot of cool upgrades!"_ I said to her, pointing to the four repuslor fins coming off of my back.

My 'sister' didn't get a chance to respond, as the other abyssal came up behind her and spoke in a voice, that up until that point, I hadn't heard in person in five years. _**"And Your dad was okay with all of this?"**_

I found myself unable to speak, for standing not two feet from me was my Mom. She may have had long Black hair, and a horn growing out above one of her eyebrows. But the face was one hundred percent that of my mom.

I felt my knees give out from underneath me, and I began to fall. Only to be caught in Meadow's arms. _"My god, it is you."_ I looked at Meadow again, and oily tears began to form, and I hugged my big brother turned sister for the first time in five years. _"You both came back!"_

I felt my mother wrap her arms around Meadow and myself and rest her chin on top of my head. My spiritual compass was going nuts. My family was... whole? _"Wait, where is Peitro? Where's my little brother?"_

I felt my mom release her embrace and saw the tears on my new sister's face as she shook her head in sorrow. _**"We lost him Lila. We lost Nate to that place."**_ She said with tears of oil running down her face as she began to break down.

Hoping the other girl was lying I looked to my mother and froze, as I saw the heartbroken look on her face as she too began to weep. That single expression told me everything I needed to know, and once again I felt the ground give out as I wailed in sorrow. My mind went back to that awful place, as I remembered just how many other other people I had seen fade out of existance in that place. How I, myself almost faded out of existance on several occasions. And now I find out that little Peitro was one of those souls that horrible place had snuffed out. As the three of us wept I felt two sets of arms wrap me in an embrace once again, and the three of us held each other in sorrow.

This was the position that my Dad and the rest of the Avengers who were in town, found the three of us in. I guess with me having gone catatonic from the news that had anticipated the worst, as they had come with their weapons of choice drawn and ready for battle. Fortunately Mom was facing them as they approached, and my dad was able to immediately recognize her. "Babe? Is that you?" He asked, as he lowered his bow.

I felt her nod her head. _**"Honey, after everything we went through to start a family, did you honestly think I'd let a little thing like death get in the way of coming home?" **_I heard her say as she wiped the tears from her face. _**"Cooper came back with me, but there were some... Conditions as to what we could come back as. Apparently since ships are considered to be female well..."**_ She let the words hang and I heard dad groan. There were also a good deal of chuckles as well, mostly from Uncle Tony as Meadow let go of me and turned to wave at dad.

_**"Surprise dad! It's a girl!"**_ She said with in forced cheerful voice, and I heard the groaning intensify.

Now that I was able to see him, I could see the gears turn in my dad's head as he realized that we were one Barton short. "Where's Peitro? Where's my little boy?"

The tears came freely once more, and mom approached dad before wrapping him into an embrace. _**"Clint. Honey. Peitro's gone." **_She sobbed into his chest. _**"That place, it ate him, and there wasn't anything Cooper or myself could do to save him. I failed him."**_ With those words I saw dad's knees buckle before he collapsed, as Captain America, Ironman, and Aunt Nat rushed to his side.

Looking at mom with pleading eyes, Aunt Nat, hoping that she had mis-heard what was said. Mom just shook her head sadly and continued to cry. With that simple shake of the head something in Aunt Nat broke, and I watched as one of the strongest women I have even known, collapse to the ground weeping, alongside the rest of my family. Which was one short one Nathanial Peitro Barton. So much for happy reunions.

As Aunt Nat fell, I watched Uncle Tony and Uncle Rodgers kneel down beside her and my parents. Wrapping my left arm around my sister's shoulder, the two of us (Well four, if you counted our respective ship souls) made our way over to the group. As we did so, Mona finally broke her silence. _**"Yeah Like you said so much for happy reunions.**_

**Afterword: Okay a few explanations are in order I think. So I will start with Cooper's new name and why it seemed like she just gave in to Kendra's suggestion so easily. The fact is, she realized that her life as Cooper Barton was over the moment she made the deal with the abyss, and that holding onto her old name wouldn't really solve anything. I haven't forgotten that she is still transitioning from being a boy to a girl. I just haven't gotten to a point where those changes will come into play.**

**The next question I'm sure you are asking right now is, does Laura have an abyssal twin? the answer to that is no. Unlike her daughters Laura and her abyssal half are fully fused as the USS Louisana only existed on the Books and in drafts thus there isn't a soul to go with it. Where as both BB-51 USS Montana and BB-65 USS Kentucky were both almost completed when congress pulled the plug. Thus Lila and Meadow have Mona and Kendra sharing their bodies.**

**And the last major question I'm going to answer is how did Lila summon her steel hull. The answer is simple. She was ALREADY the steel hulled ship, it was merely folded up into itself via MSSGBS into a Lila shaped form. Thus all she had to do was unfold her form. I will admit to getting the inspiration from the WormxKanColle fic 'Northern Light' by Taliserian on SV for the exact hows and why's this works. **


	5. Chapter 5

**From the Abyss of the Heart**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers, KanColle, or the League of Legends.**

**Slightly long A.N: Sorry about the exceptionally long wait. This chapter was a true monster to write and I haven't even gotten to the Main Event. Sigh. Though there is some good news. I have successfully plotted this story to it's conclusion. So all major events and interactions have been decided. The only thing left to do is turn the road map into the story. Wish me luck, cause real life is probably going to screw me over a couple more times before this is finished.**

**Just to be clear here, there are a few things going into this chapter that I'd like you, my beloved readers to know. As of this point in the story, Clint has been reinstated as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Which will make later events make a little more sense. Second of all I have nothing against the Guided missile cruiser Yorktown or her crew. I simply chose a ship that is currently on the list for the scrapyard and uh, well, you'll see. Just know, I chose her fate with a coin flip. That said, I thought Sona's Pentakill outfit was awsome so slight disclaimer I don't own her either. But I do have the Pentakill albums and was listening to Mortal Reminder will writing this. But I digress. So with out further ado, Onward! To The BATTLEFIELD!**

**Chapter Five: The Yorktown Incident**

**Atlantic Ocean- One week till Time Heist...**

BOOM! SPLASH! BANG! BANG! BANG! BRIIITTTT! RAAATTTATTAT! BOOM! SPLASH! BOOM! PING! Such were the sounds that once again stunned the ears of Steve Rodgers as he watched Battlegroup Barton fire on the 'decommissioned' cruiser USS Yorktown from the deck of the _Illiad_. The aforementioned cruiser was an older variant of the Ticondroga Class that had been decommissioned back in 2004. Apparently she had disliked the idea of be scrapped so much that she Abyssalfied on the way to the breakers, sinking the tug boats that had been towing her when she did so. Unfortunately she also decided to unleash a full barrage of missiles on the shipyards wrecking the dry docks so thoroughly that they would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. From there the Yorktown proceeded to destroy anything that tried to stop her as she sailed down the Delaware toward the Atlantic. The military did its best to respond to the attack but soon discovered that all conventional methods of attack were insufficient to stop her.

At first it was believed that her sudden reactivation was the work of Thanos worshipers, who believed that Thanos was right to kill half of all life. With that in mind, it was initially believed that conventional military forces would suffice. So it wasn't until after the ship began showing it's new nature that the government decided to contact the Avengers, a full hour after the first attack. It had started with the crooked teeth that made up her unnatural grin appeared as a black metal coating covered her hull. Then twisted vein like growths began to wrap around her barrels and crawl up her superstructure twisting around the lattices that made up her mast. A hellish red light began to glow inside the ship's bridge and it became obvious to many that something not of this earth had awakened.

With the Avengers having been called into action, it was decided that the three Barton woman, along with the _Illiad_, would be deployed to counter this unexpected threat. Granted, the only reason the Bartons were even brought into this whole affair is due to the fact that they were Abyssals themselves. Which made them the go to choice for dealing with this new threat, despite Clint having tried to argue otherwise. It had been a brief argument, one that was promptly shut down when Laura revealed that she had a GIGANTIC two headed 'pet' that had some impressive firepower of it's own. Clint relented after that little display, but had made it a point never let his family out of his sight for even a second, and was currently acting as the commander for the _Illiad._ Add in the fact that both Tony and Bruce were on board the _Illiad_, and it seemed a lot like when the Avengers were first put together.

All of these events led up to Steve standing on the lower bridge of the _Illiad_, looking down at a deathly pale red haired woman dressed in a black floor length dress that started at her breast and seemed to turn into mist as it touched the ground. On her right shoulder was the tattoo of a human skull with the ship's crest being held in it's jaw. Completing the look was a pair of spiked gauntlets on her wrist. To the great surprise of Steve and the rest of the Avengers F.R.I.D.A.Y. actually got a hit on identifying the mystery woman. Only thing was, the woman was a fictional video game character called Sona, 'The Maven of Strings', which led to Steve wondering what tricks this 'Maven' had up her non-existent sleeves.

As the situation was currently the red head was standing atop the Yorktown's bridge and glaring at Laura Barton and her two headed 'pet'. Said 'pet' had just fired a salvo into the rogue Abyssl's engine room, leaving her dead in the water. Pressing down on the button for the loudspeakers Steve spoke to the Abyssal. "USS Yorktown, this is your final warning. Stand down or we will be forced to sink you."

For Steve, it was strange feeling being in a command position and not on the front lines. Granted this was a fight that he actually had no ability to participate in. Steve considered the the sentient cruiser's actions up to this point and sighed. While her reasoning for going rogue were understandable to him, but her actions since becoming self aware were not. Had she just cut the tow lines and ran, it wouldn't be so bad. But she had blown three tugs and their crews to oblivion and killed almost three hundred shipyard personal in her escape. That wasn't counting the four jet fighters she had shot down and the Coast Guard cutter she had rammed/bitten at the mouth of the Delaware. But he had been giving instructions by the President himself to either capture or sink the new abyssal. The latter being his option of last resort, simply out of principal.

Through his binoculars, Steve watched as the girl flipped him off as a voice came through the radio. _**"And why the fuck should I stand down?! Give me one good reason to stand down, for I'd rather be sunk than be scrapped and turned into razor blades!"**_ She said with a hint of steel in her voice.

Steve cursed under his breath, for it was situations like this one that really made him miss Nick Fury. Fortunately Tony came to his rescue as he spoke through the radio in his armor. "How about this for a reason Spitfire. As of two minutes ago you ceased being the Navy's problem and are now a 'Research Platform' for Stark industries. Which means you are not going to scrapped."

Her glare hardened. _**"Hah! Sounds like a fancy way of saying that instead of scrapping me, your going to dissect me instead. I don't think so."**_

What she didn't know was that Tony had just bought her her freedom. Unfortunately for her and everyone else, she didn't give Tony a chance to correct her before she cried out a battle cry. _**"FINAL DEFENSIVE FIRE!"**_

With those three words the world caught fire as the abyssal cruiser filled the area around her with ordinance. Missiles flew as fast as her rail launchers could reload, while her guns pumped out lead as fast as they could. There was an explosion just above the cruiser and a cry of pain sounded out over the radio. _"Ahhh! Shit! I'm hit! Severe damage to Vertical thruster 4! Flight capacity reduced to 10,000 feet."_ Lila cried out.

Steve watched as the airborne battleship began to trail smoke, just as the _Illiad_ herself began to take hits. One of the shots hit something critical and _Illiad_ shuddered violently, and started to roll to starboard. "Damage report!" Clint ordered.

"Engines One and Three heavily damaged. There is a fire in the main hanger bay." One of the bridge staff announced, before turning to Clint. "Sir, flight capacity has been reduced to 32%. We are losing altitude rapidly."

Both Steve and Clint cursed, as the _Illiad_ spiraled toward the ocean. "Helmsman, can you steady our descent?" Clint asked.

"I'm trying to sir! But she's fighting me!" The operator at the helm stated as he held the flight controls with a death grip. "I should be able to bring us down intact though."

Steve and Clint shared a look. "Tony, we've got a fire in main hangar. Can you give damage control an assist?"

"Banner and me are already there. It's a mess down here, and I have bad news and worse news." He said. "Which do want first?"

Steve grimmiced and Clint groaned. "Bad news first."

"Well in that case. Bad news is that the fire suppression system is down and we've got multiple planes on fire down here." He said with a slight nervous chuckle.

Wondering what could trump loosing the fire suppression system and make Stark nervous, Clint frowned. "Okay, that's pretty bad, what else is wrong down there?"

That's when he decided to drop a bombshell "The worse news is that I'm going to have to shut off the fuel lines to Engine Cluster 2."

Clint slamed a fist on a console "Damn it Tony we need those engines to maintain what control we still have!"

"You don't think I realize that!? However, if I don't shut off the fuel lines, we WILL loose the ship! The fire will melt through those lines any second now! If it manages to do so while those lines are still active it will turn the ship into a fireball."

Steve cursed as he looked at Clint. "Tony shut those lines down. We'll just have to try and do without." He said with a shake of his head. "Damn it Clint, I was hoping we would be able to end this peacefully. Hopefully your girls are having better luck than we are.

Clint smirked. "Knowing how my wife was when I first met her, I almost feel bad for that Abyssal."

Raising an eyebrow, Steve asked "Oh? She seemed nice the few times I came over."

With a chuckle, Clint just shook his head and smiled. "Who do you think I was partnered with before I met Nat?"

A look of realization crossed Steve's face. "Ah! Now that really does improve the odds doesn't it?"

Clint just smiled. "Yes it does."

"T-minus one minute to impact." A bridge officer announced.

"All Hands! Brace for Impact!" Clint ordered over the intercom. With that order given the two men strapped themselves in, and watched as the ocean grew ever closer in the bridge window.

**Laura POV**

This damn woman was getting on my last nerve. There's no way she should of had any ammunition on hand to began with! Let alone the copious amounts that she was using up! But that didn't change the fact that she was launching missile after missile into the sky. One of which had struck Lila, while several others had crippled the _Illiad._ I raised my right arm and point at her, before clenching my hand into a fist. Bastion fired another salvo at her and I watched as her CIWS tried to shoot my rounds down. But a few got through and one shell took out her forward Missile system while another shredded her AEGIS radar. Now she was crippled and blind. Lila fired a salvo of her own while Meadow focused her attention on the Cruiser's flanks.

But before I could do anymore harm to her, I found myself distracted by a large splash as the _Illiad_ hit the ocean surface. As the Carrier crash landed I noticed one of it's massive engines ripping away and causing several sections of her hull to collapse into the sea. My heart clinched as dread filled it. I immediately tried to contact my husband over the comm link. _**"Clint! Are you alright? Please respond!"**_

"*Cough* *Cough* We're alive honey. We've taken heavy damage but we're alive. Just take that bitch out before she can finish the job." He coughed out over the radio. Hearing his voice caused me to feel a weight lift off of my shoulders.

Satisfied that my husband was safe for the moment I turned my attention to the red haired cruiser._**"Okay bitch, you wanted my undivided attention. Now you have it! Shizume!(Sink!)**_ I said as I had Bastion aim his guns at the crippled cruiser, who returned my glare with a smirk on her face.

"_**Bring it bitch!"**_ She said as she launched a salvo of four missiles at me.

Dancing across the water I managed to dodge three of the missiles but the forth one struck me in between my Number 3 and Number 4 turret. I felt my deck buckle as the warhead detonated, knocking my aft turrets out of commission. Gritting my teeth I aimed my remaining guns at the cruiser's waterline. _**"Eat lead!"**_ I cried out, firing my guns once more, only to have my shells knocked out of the air by a chain whip.

Several cries of shock sounded as the Cruiser grew a pair of Chain whips from each hand. The red head gave me a feral grin as her eyes glowed bright green. Leaping off of the mangled wreck of her bridge, she slammed onto the water, before sprinting towards me. _**"Why don't you do me a fucking favor and go to hell!"**_ She cried as she launched the whip on her right hand at me.

Ducking under her whip I got in close to her and countered her with a sweeping right kick to her legs. Fortunately my opponent was a sloppy brawler, as my kick connected, taking her feet out from under her. As she hit the water I grappled with her using my primary body, trying to keep her from using her whips. While at the same time I had Bastion move into position to attack, as my guns hadn't reloaded yet. But before my guns finished loading, Meadow and Lila to beat me to the punch as the they fired their broadsides in tandem. There was a massive explosion as the cruiser was ripped apart by the high explosive rounds, causing massive chunks of her hull to go flying through the air. The red head in my grip screamed as her body was ripped apart by an invisible force._**"NO! AAAAAHHHHH! *Gurgle*"**_ Her scream was cut short as the glow left her eyes and her body sank below the waves.

As the smoke began to clear the only sign of the other Abyssal's hull was her bow slowly sinking beneath the waves. Despite the fact that I had once again witnessed someone dying at the hands of one of my children, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. _**"Hostile Vessel USS YORKTOWN confirmed sunk. Good work girls. Now let's go see how badly mangled the Illiad is, and how we can help."**_

Just as I prepared to head towards the stricken helicarrier, I heard a choked sob come from Meadow. _**"Damn it! *Sniffle* Why! Why couldn't she just surrender!"**_ She wailed, as she came to a stop above the spot where the Yorktown's human body sank.

Lila landed beside her and scowled. _"Really sis? It was just a stupid cruiser! Dumb woman choose to die! So what? Did Thanos cry when he erased us and half the universe with us? Did he cry when he doomed Peitro to hell? NO! So why should we cry when we kill our enemies when our murder didn't?"_

Giving Lila a pointed and furious glare, I berated her. _**"First thing first Lila Barton! NEVER and I mean NEVER compare yourself to Thanos! If I even suspect that your trying to follow in that monster's footsteps I'll sink you myself!"**_ I said with anger in my voice, causing Lila to stumble backwards.

_"Whaa? But it's the truth!"_ She said in frightened tone, as I closed the distance.

_**"I don't care if it's the truth young lady! Thanos was a monster of his own creation! I will not let you become one if I can help it! Secondly, when it comes to killing another being, whether they be Abyssal, Human, or Alien, it should never come easy Lila. This is especially true of your sister, and seeing as this is her second Abyssal kill, she still has difficulty adjusting to the idea of taking another life."**_

Recovering her balance, but not able to look me in the eyes, Lila gave me a half-hearted snort of contempt. _"Just her second kill? Big whoop! This makes kill number four for me!"_

I groaned and rubbed the area around my horn in disbelief. 'Great, my youngest is a blood thirsty, battle driven idiot. While my eldest is a pacifist it seems. Lovely. Wait a moment, if this is Lila's fourth kill, what were the other three?' I wondered to myself before asking my younger daughter about her kills. Her answer surprised me and filled me with a sense of pride. She told me of the three Japanese guided missile ships that attacked her and how she sank them in one salvo. But there in laid the difference. She had sank three NORMAL guided missile ships, and a SINGLE Abyssal. Where as Meadow's kill record consisted Two Abyssals and nothing else. And I made sure to tell her as much.

This earned me an pained look in return from Lila, who suddenly seemed a little more fragile than I had seen her be since my resurrection. _"So what? I also killed nearly five hundred sailors in that attack! You don't see me shedding tears every time I have to kill! Shit!"_ She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Seeing that I had finally gotten through to my youngest living child, I smiled. _**"But the fact that you do feel that pain means you haven't become a monster yourself. Your still the daughter that I raised, and not one of the monsters that now live inside of us."**_

She didn't answer me verbally, but she didn't need to the soft sniffles coming from her assured me that my daughter could still feel human emotions. I turned to look at the _Illiad_ and my stomach dropped. _**"Oh god."**_ I uttered as I watched the helicarrier list heavily on it's starboard side while smoke came pouring out of the upper hangar deck. Severa _**"Clint, if you can hear me, the Yorktown has been sunk. What do you need us to do?"**_

_"That's great news Babe." _He responded, and I released a sigh of relief. _"I'm not going to mince words here honey. The Illiad is in bad shape. Steve just left the bridge with a damage control party to seal off one of the more damaged sections to keep us from taking on anymore water from below. But it's the fire in the main hangar that's the real concern. Tony and Banner have half the crew with them fighting that thing, but it's kicking our ass. If you could help them, that would be a start."_

I looked at Lila, knowing that one of her upgrades was advanced firefighting equipment designed to help complement the _Illiad _to help in the event that the carrier's own fire suppression system failed. It apparently was part of the bargain to get the flight upgrades. Lila must of known what I was thinking, for without a word she gave me a nod and took off towards the crippled carrier. _**"Clint, Lila's on the way now. Tell Tony to expect her to start fire fighting operations any moment now."**_

_"That's great! Tell her to put her hoses on the fire in the aft hangar bay! That's where the fuel lines are closest together. If she can knock down the fire there we should be able to start knocking this thing back."_ Tony stated over the comms.

_"Roger that Uncle Tony!"_ Lila responded as she shifted to her full hull form, causing me to feel a little envious. I had tried to preform the feat myself but kept getting stuck as a 6' 5" version of a Montana class. Not exactly awe inspiring, if I say so myself. But seeing how even Meadow was capable of the transformation, I figured their ship souls must be integral to pulling off the trick.

I cleared my thoughts with a shake of my head and watched as Lila pulled along side the stricken Carrier. _" I am extending my hoses now!"_ She stated as multiple robotic arms deployed from her hull and began to douse the fires with nozzles at their tips.

With Lila attacking the fire from the damaged ship's port side, I motioned for Meadow to follow me to the _Illiad's_ mangled starboard side. As we came about I could see massive wounds in her hull, and I felt a deep sadness fill me. The forward Starboard engine had been ripped away during the crash creating a massive gash that ran the length of her hull, ending just before the aft starboard thruster. Fire and smoke was billowing out from the gaping wounds. Fortunately, the worst of the damage seemed to be above the waterline. But something in my gut told me there was even more damage that I couldn't see. It was when I heard Meadow gasping in horror that I noticed there were people in the water, and there was no way I was putting them on back onto a ship that could sink at any moment. Which left but one option and there was only one of us that could do it. Giving my daughter a sad glance I let out a tired sigh. Kneeling down on the water so I could look her in the eye, I placed a hand on her shoulder. _**"Meadow, sweetie, I need you to do me a favor."**_

She looked at me with wide eyes, an eagerness to do anything to help visible in her eyes. _**"Mom whatever it is you need us to do, we can do it!" **_ She said in a determined tone.

_**"That's right Ma! What do you need?"**_ Kendra said, piping in an equally determined voice. Bringing her head around to look over Meadow's shoulder and look at me.

A deep sense of pride filled me. Despite everything she had gone through leading up to this point, she was willing to help others. I pointed at the figures in the water._** "I want you two to take on your steel hull form and take the wounded aboard. Just get those people out of the water and out of harms way."**_

She didn't even hesitate. _**"I promise you that you won't be disappointed in us mom!"**_ She said as the two gave me a chipper salute, Meadow saluting with her hand and Kendra with the rapid elevation of one of her cheek guns.

The two steamed past me and shifted into their full hulled form, their Iowa linage showing through proudly with turrets one and two standing at attention. But it was from the amidships on back that the lines that defined the Iowa class disappeared, giving way to a hangar deck topped by an angled flight deck. This was my beautiful daughters' true nature, a wonderful blend of battleship and aircraft carrier.

I watched with pride as the two lowered rescue nets over the side to allow those in the water to climb to safety. But I soon noticed that there were quite a few who were so badly wounded that there was no way they'd be able to make the climb, and I realized that here was MY opportunity to help. Making my way over to the nearest wounded sailors, I had Bastion start carrying those with the worst injuries to safety. It was a slow and tedious process at first but that quickly changed once some of the _Illiad's _crew managed to get a few of Meadow's small boats in the water.

It was around the same time that the last of the wounded had been brought aboard that a loud cheer could be heard from the crewmen on Meadow's deck. Following their gaze, a smile crossed my face, the fire was finally out. There was another loud cheer as several people pointed to the southeast. My smile grew into a full on grin as at least a several dozen ships of the US Navy along with several Coast Guard Cutters and at least two ocean going tugboats appeared on the horizon. 'What a beautiful sight after a long battle.' I thought to myself, as a smile crossed my face. _**"USS Louisiana to Illiad, the navy is here."**_ I said using my ship name as to not reveal my identity.

Without missing a beat Clint responded, relief evident in his voice. _"That's great news Louisiana. Tell USS Kentucky to break off and take the wounded back to shore. USS Montana might need help towing us back to shore though, as our engines are shot. Over."_

"_**Copy that Illiad. Be advised it appears that they brought some deep sea tugboats with them. Over."**_ I informed him.

"_Copy that Louisiana. We see them as well. Even so I'd feel a lot better if you and USS Montana escorted us back to New York. Over"_ Clint said, the weight of five years showing through.

Closing my eyes, I contemplated what he must of gone through, a sad frown crossing my face. 'God Clint. I wish this hadn't happened. That we hadn't paid the price for that madman's idea of 'Balance'. But we did, and I still haven't figured out who got the better end of the deal.' I shook my head. 'No. There were no winners here except Thanos and even he lost his head in the end.'

Trying to clear my head of such thoughts I turned toward my eldest. _**"USS Louisiana to USS Kentucky you've been given clearance to break off and get the wounded to shore. Over."**_

"_**We read you Louisiana, making my heading one-four-O' degrees and headed for port. See you later Ma. Over."**_ She said as her engines began to build steam. She broke formation with the Illiad and sailed past me with a loud blast from her horn.

"_**See you in a little bit USS Kentucky. Over and Out."**_ I said waving to her as she passed.

Pulling up to the side of the _Iliad_, I spotted the red and gold figure of Ironman standing on the forecastle, trying to guide one of the tugs into position to receive the _Illiad's_ tow line. Correction. Tow lines, as Dr. Banner had several of them in his hands. I pulled along side and shouted up to them. _**"Oh Boys! Pass me a line!"**_

That earned me a chuckle from the two of them, and Bruce tossed the end of one of the lines to me, as he shouted. "OKAY LAURA! ONE TOW LINE COMING DOWN!"

Catching the line in my hand, I then wrapped it around my waist. With tow line secured I maneuvered myself in position for the tow. Which earned me looks of disbelief from the crew of the Tug boat, to which I simply grinned and winked. _**"Don't worry boys, I can handle my own. The question is can you keep up" **_That caused several of them to gape and sputter, clearly unable to figure out how I intended to out do an actual tugboat. I giggled at the sight before announcing over the comm link._** "Louisiana to Illiad. I am in position to tow. Over."**_

"_This is Illiad to USS Louisiana, hold position until all lines have been secured. Over."_ Came Clint's calm voice.

Following Clint's instructions, I held my position beside the tug until another message came over the radio._ "All ships, this is the Illiad. We will begin towing operations. All vessels will proceed on heading 140 degrees to New York harbor entrance at 5 knots."_ Clint said over the comms, and at those words a twelve hour marathon began.

**Twelve hours later, New York Harbor...**

**Third Person pov**

It was almost midnight when the fleet surrounding the _Illiad_ passed under the Verrazano Narrows bridge, but that didn't stop many New Yorkers from taking the opportunity to witness the bizarre sight. For it truly was bizarre, with a Tall dark haired woman with a towline pulled taut wrapped around her waist, and standing on water of all things, leading the way, with a thick wake churning behind her. Keeping pace beside her was the Aerial battleship Montana, the two of them pulling the ruined form of the _Illiad._ Entering the harbor with them was a fleet of four destroyers and two cruisers, with the Coast Guard cutters having broken off to return to their patrols. The Ocean going tugs had also broken off just before entering the harbor, having passed their charge over to the local harbor tugs.

As the fleet entered the harbor they were greeted by the sounds of car horns and cheers from the bridge and shoreline, and dozens of air horns and shipboard whistles from the water, despite the late hour. It was as though the whole city had stayed awake just to welcome the weary and wounded carrier home. Waiting by Stark Naval yards was the sleek form of the Kentucky, who gave a loud blast from her horn.

As the ships approached one of the two open dry docks at Stark Shipyard, the woman removed the towline from her waist, while the battleship also cut it's towline, before the two of them broke off to meet the battlecarrier. This allowed the the harbor tugs to take over and guide the wounded carrier into the dry dock. As the ship was brought into the dock and the gangway was raised into position, the dock workers and repair teams moved about. In the middle of this controlled chaos several figures stood out among the workers, for not all of them were human.e

The battleships having unloaded their human cargo shifted into the forms of two young women, their transformations hidden by the cover of night. The two glided over to the older woman and the three of them proceeded to make their way onto the pier. They were met by the others as three men and the Hulk made their way down the gangway, with the crew of the _Illiad_ following behind them.

The four Avengers made their way over to the group of fellow heroes. "I appreciate you all coming here tonight. You missed a hell of a fight." Steve said, addressing the others.

A large heavy set blond man nodded in agreement as he stepped forward revealing himself to be Thor. "So I've heard. I also heard that Tony and Banner have a plan to undo what Thanos did."

"We do. We just haven't had chance to test it due to the Abyssals that have been popping up lately." The Hulk remarked.

A blue skinned woman cocked her head in robotic way, slightly confused. "Abyssals? Is that what your calling these creatures that have been showing up lately?"

"_**That's what we are... Um, I'm afraid I never got your name."**_ Laura Barton admitted slightly embarrassed.

"It's Nebula, and the fur ball with me is Rocket." The cyborg said, causing said fur ball to growl slightly.

"Hey! I'm not just a fur ball! Okay?! I'm one of a kind, 'cause you ain't gonna find another one like me in the 'verse! Got it?!" The racoon said.

The woman shrugged. "Ugh. Whatever works for you." She looked at Laura. "You say you are one of these Abyssals, but I have never heard of such beings until a few Terran days ago."

"_**Some of us, such as my daughters and myself, are escapees from the hell Thanos sent the souls of the Vanished. But others are the warped souls of warships, and those are the ones causing the biggest headaches right now."**_ Laura said gesturing to the _Illiad_ with her thumb.

Thor frowned, and both Steve and Tony noticed it. "I take it you've heard of these beings before?" Steve asked.

"Indeed I have. Beings of immense power born from the spirits that inhabit vessels. I will tell you more later, after everyone has rested. That and I would prefer that everyone was present for this so I do not have to repeat myself." Thor said knowing that the knowledge he held would be better received when everyone was both present and wide awake and not half-dead on their feet.

There were a few mummers of agreement, and Steve nodded. "Well I won't argue with getting some shut eye, particularly after a long day like today. Well reconvine in the morning and discuss the nature of the Abyssals and undoing the Snap. Say Tony do we still have those living quarters on base?"

"You mean the ones S.H.I.E.L.D. installed when they constructed the _Illiad_? I didn't sell those if that's what your asking." Tony replied.

"Well in that case why don't we all get some shut eye, and finish this conversation in the morning." Steve said as he resisted the urge to yawn.

This was great news to Lila and Meadow as the two were barely able to stand, the excitement and physical toll on their bodies having finally caught up to them. _"A comfy bed sounds wonderful."_ Lila said in tired voice. _**"Mmmmn. Bed. Sleep."**_ Meadow said echoing her sister's thoughts. _**"Just remember to set a pillow for me this time sis."**_ Keira said. Her head may of been made of metal, but a pillow was still comfortable for her. Meadow nodded to her twin. _**"Sure thing Keira."**_

The girls' antics had managed to earn them a few laughs, and a couple small smiles. Laura looked to her husband for help, and Clint let out a tired chuckle. "Alright, lets get you girls situated for the night." He said ushering his daughters down the pier. He gave a parting glance at his fellow Avengers. "See you guys in the morning." With those final words the Barton family made their way down the busy pier to retire for the night.

**Okay confession time. This chapter did not go according to plan and the **_**Illiad**_** rescue took much longer than I wanted. So I chose to cut it off here, making this feel like filler chapter instead of what it could have been. Sorry. Hopefully chapter six will further the story enough for me to get back on track. That is if, and I mean IF, my real life problems don't send my life into a tailspin. Which with my grandmother moving in, seems more than likely to happen. So expect delays. Really LONG delays. Wish I had better news, but I don't. This is Draconious signing off.**


End file.
